Research Summary

My research focuses on the little-known life and fairy tales of the German nineteenth-century children’s author Sophie von Baudissin. More specifically, I am drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity to examine how Baudissin’s tales challenged the prevalent gender ideology of her time. I am also translating the stories into English and writing a novel that re-imagines Baudissin’s life by drawing inspiration not only from surviving letters, and memoirs of contemporaries, but also from my dissertation findings and the fairy tales themselves.